Chapter 264

Chapter 264

As the first map of this resource battle, the Star Alliance had clearly put a lot of effort into the Old Ruins.

The Star Alliance actually built a planet, even tried to operate it for a while, then simulated its abandonment, shutting down all facilities as if they were decommissioned.

The supplies inside were not randomly distributed either. Only places where food would normally appear had food. Perishable items had long rotted, leaving mainly nutrient fluids as the most portable and quickest way to replenish energy.

Thus, locations with nutrient fluids easily became hotspots for encounters with others.

Ye Mo realized this and, before others had even landed, quickly filled every available slot on his person with nutrient fluids from a vending machine.

He then planned to avoid food supply points, steer clear of conflicts, and head straight for the flag-holding zone at top speed.

But his journey was far from smooth.

The first night, he planned to travel under cover of darkness, but others suddenly arrived at the shop where he was hiding.

He was trapped inside for hours until the outsiders entered and opened fire. Ye Mo seized the chance to dodge the shots, retreated to the roof while the others entered, and made a quick escape.

The night was wasted. At dawn, he risked traveling again and nearly ran head-on into Xiboen's roaming team members at a corner.

Luckily, he reacted quickly, climbing a tall building and bypassing them via the rooftop.

After that, Ye Mo gained considerable experience.

At night, people felt safer and deployed their mechas more frequently. Mecha detection devices could be shielded with psychic energy to conceal one's location, but Ye Mo's skill was inconsistent—sometimes it worked, sometimes not.

Opponents might sense something wrong, and if they opened fire, he could be exposed.

Traveling by day seemed risky, but groups were easy to spot, and solo travelers avoided standing out by rarely deploying mechas, making daytime actually safer than night.

The sky darkened again.

Ye Mo began looking for a place to spend the night.

His hiding spots became increasingly unconventional. This time, he found a half-built complex.

He chose a building with an open interior from ground to roof, crisscrossed with steel beams, exposed to the wind on all sides.

The area was full of similar buildings, giving it the look of a ghost town.

Ye Mo set down the flag, sat on the ground, opened a bottle of nutrient fluid, chugged it in a few gulps, let out a long breath, and tossed the bottle aside.

"There's no way anyone would come to a place like this."

The moment the words left his mouth, he froze, then quickly grabbed the flag and climbed up, hiding among the steel beams.

Lakeley hadn't noticed anything, but by now he was used to it. He watched Ye Mo climb swiftly, then poked his head out to look outside.

Sure enough, he saw a figure approaching in the distance, too far to tell which team they were from.

Leveraging his virtual-world perspective, Lakeley stayed at the entrance, waiting for the person to draw nearer.

"This place is close to the flag-holding zone, but isn't Ye Mo's encounter rate a bit ridiculous? Who would come here?"

Then, recognizing the person, Lakeley froze. "It's Leisa."

That made sense. Kainan's team, with many rookies and lower strength, tried to avoid encounters. Xiboen was relentless in chasing them, and Leisa acted like a mother hen, wanting to handle everything himself. He would always choose a very safe place to sleep.

Lakeley watched as Leisa carefully surveyed the surroundings, using his equipment to check. Not satisfied, he half-deployed his mecha, covering his waist, shoulders, and eyes with form-fitting armor, and used its advanced gear to scan again. His mecha was purchased by Kainan from outside and was more advanced than Kainan's own tech.

Lakeley also lowered his voice. "If it's Leisa, it's not too surprising. He's always very cautious."

"Of course, Ye Mo is cautious too. They're both players I really like. I hope Ye Mo stays hidden and they don't have to fight."

Lakeley couldn't help adding, "I really can't figure out how Ye Mo is so unlucky. He encounters an enemy every six hours on average. He should become a professional commentator—he'd totally go viral."

Elsewhere, Baide had found a hotel nearby and taken the best room on the top floor.

He showered, changed, and grabbed a bottle of liquor from the cabinet.

He lounged on the sofa, one hand on the armrest, the other holding a glass of wine, gazing out the floor-to-ceiling window toward Ye Mo's location. "Cyril really is unlucky."

Today, he hadn't led anyone over on purpose; Cyril's situation was purely bad luck.

But Baide was a bit surprised that Ye Mo still hadn't had a direct confrontation.

"Is Ye Mo's stealth really that impressive? His hand-to-hand combat used to be below average. Who taught him?"

Baide frowned, trying to recall Norton and the others' stealth abilities, but realized he couldn't remember any of them ever demonstrating such skills.

He concluded, "I knew Grath didn't need stealth."

Baide took a sip and commented critically, "The wine is mediocre."

...

Leisa left after ensuring everything was clear. Lakeley breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Ye Mo, expecting him to make a run for it.

But Ye Mo didn't move. When Leisa reappeared, Lakeley realized he had faked his departure.

This time, he seemed more relaxed. After leaving, he returned with a full team—seven or eight young men and women, following closely behind him.

Compared to other nations, Kainan's team didn't have many members. Only Grath matched them; if Deenlie and Herli weren't counted, Grath had just six. Most nations stretched their slots, needing mechanics, commanders, and mecha pilots, but adding one more person to Kainan only increased Leisa's burden.

Leisa set up alarm devices outside, then entered the building.

"This place is safe. Everyone can rest here."

The young ones obediently nodded, not complaining about the rough environment, and began clearing a spot to sleep.

A baby-faced young member found a discarded nutrient fluid bottle in a corner and asked, puzzled, "Why is this here?"

Leisa frowned, quickly walked over, picked up the bottle, and examined it closely. There was still liquid at the bottom—it had been opened recently.

The others crowded around. The baby-faced boy mumbled, "What a slob."

He was the youngest in Kainan and had been nervous the entire time.

Though not as strong as other participants, they had been selected for their appearance and were still among the better cadets.

Unlike the others, the baby-faced kid was timid and easily fooled, hardly seeming like a cadet. It was a mystery how he had dared to apply for the resource battle.

A blond young man deliberately teased him, lowering his voice: "Someone's here, hiding nearby. Didn't you notice?" Another teammate nodded seriously: "Yeah, you didn't know?"

At first, the baby-face didn't believe it, but with everyone insisting, he grew suspicious and scared, retreating behind the others. "We've found you. Come out now. And don't litter."

They didn't notice that Leisa had quietly moved a step closer, positioning himself in front of them, his arms already covered in armor. Hiding on the second floor, Ye Mo hesitated. He hadn't planned to escape through the window, but this was the first time he'd been discovered. A few seconds later, he poked his head out from above and said, "Sorry, I was the one who threw that."

Leisa immediately turned and locked onto him.

Ye Mo wasn't nervous though; he judged he could win and had already planned in his mind that if a fight broke out, he would first put the flag up high, then fight.

The young people in front of Babyface all froze in place.

The blond youth, who had just been joking, reached for the gun at his waist.

There was someone at such close range, and they were going to spend the night here unaware; if that person had malicious intent, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Instead, Babyface wasn't that nervous; he had just gotten over his shock, but he thought his companions had everything under control.

"N-no, it's okay, this isn't our place either, I mean, it's fine."

Ye Mo looked handsome; there was a streak of dust on his cheek, which showed he hadn't been having a great time these days. Moreover, he looked even younger than him and knew to say sorry.

Babyface gradually relaxed until he was completely at ease. He looked up at Ye Mo and said, "Why were you hiding just now? That was scary. Where's your captain? You're not lost, are you?"

"I'm not lost. It's just that our tasks are different. My captain assigned me to guard the flag. I was hiding because I didn't want to fight. I only have one flag."

Ye Mo held the flag and added, "Besides, I was here first."

"You're alone? Your captain is so mean."

Ye Mo shook his head. "No, Baide is very capable and takes good care of me. Guarding the flag is simpler, so I'm doing it."

Even Babyface thought Ye Mo must have been set up. Guarding the flag was clearly the hardest part; everyone fought tooth and nail for those few spots, and they had to stay for 24 hours. One person couldn't possibly guard the flag, right? He immediately sympathized with Ye Mo. Poor guy, doing the hardest part alone. What kind of captain was that? Captain Leisa was so much better—gentle and caring towards them.

"We're going to guard the flag too. Why don't you come with us?"

After saying that, Babyface remembered his captain and looked at Leisa with a pleading look, adding a few words on the spot: "Of course, we need our captain's permission."

Leisa finally stirred after a long pause but didn't deactivate the armor on his arm. He saw Ye Mo's flag; the emblem on it was unfamiliar to him. Leisa knew the emblems of almost all countries, and almost any country could become Kainan's enemy, except those too weak for even Kainan to bother with.

This was a resource war; strong or weak, they were all worth one point. He shouldn't let Ye Mo go, especially given their current situation. They had no right to talk about morality or immorality. Such things had happened before.

Leisa thought he had already set aside all his pride.

But this time he hesitated. Leisa remembered his former teammates, one of whom, like Ye Mo, had black hair. He might not have been as young as Ye Mo, but he was also very young and obedient to the captain. That young man eventually died with the flag in the tower where he was guarding it.

That time, he only brought back three teammates. After that, Leisa put away his long-held dream and changed his goal to bringing back as many people alive as possible.

The scene was deadlocked for a few seconds.

In the end, Leisa deactivated his armor. He rationalized by thinking that starting a conflict would attract attention from others.

Leisa smiled. "We can't take you with us, but you can spend the night here. Sorry, I can't trust you."

Ye Mo was a bit surprised. He nodded and said, "Thank you."

Then he lightly jumped down from the level, found a spot in the corner, and sat down holding his flag.

Babyface immediately pulled his sleeping bag closer to Ye Mo, and even the blond youth beside him couldn't stop him. He generously said, "Don't you have a blanket? I'll share mine with you. Why doesn't your captain bring you anything? Our captain is so nice."

"My name is Zener. Can I see your flag?"

"My name is Ye Mo, but you can also call me Cyril."

Ye Mo generously unfolded the flag and showed it to him. "See? It's beautiful, right? I've been very careful all the way; it's not dirty at all."

The blond youth sighed, exchanged a glance with Leisa, and quietly moved Zener's sleeping bag back.

Lakeley, watching all this, also sighed. "Just a kid, after all. Cyril is too young to be in the resource war; he should have waited another two years."

Ye Mo didn't have a conflict with Kainan.

Lakeley didn't feel relieved; instead, he became more worried. "I thought Cyril would move elsewhere like he did before. I hope Cyril can separate from them soon. Xiboen hasn't found Kainan yet this time. I know it's not nice, but I hope Kainan doesn't drag Cyril into trouble."

Cyril was so young, hadn't yet made a name for himself in the resource wars. Leisa at least had his moment of glory, and Grath also had his problems. Why didn't they hide away such a young, talented child to nurture and let him grow slowly, instead of putting him in such a dangerous situation?

"I came from the opposite direction. Lakeley is right; Cyril should leave quickly. Xiboen is nearby."